Illinois State offensive coordinator Kurt Beathard has left program suddenly, just after putting a sign that read "All Lives Matter to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" on his office door.
The school announced his departure last night.
According to The Pantagraph, school officials were not willing to discuss what lead to the departure, and Beathard would not speak on the circumstances either.
The Illinois State campus has been a place of racial tension recently, as some of the Redbird athletes took offense to athletic director Larry Lyons using "All Redbird Lives Matter" in a video conference. That prompted some athletes to boycott team meetings, workouts and practices while they also asked for a comprehensive plan to improve athletic department diversity.
There was a Black Lives Matter poster in the football locker room that was recently taken down, and the article shares that Beathard had no knowledge of what happened and shared "That locker room crap is wrong. I took the sign down somebody put on my door. That’s it. I didn’t take anything off that wasn’t put on my door. I wrote the message.”
Beathard's departure prompted head coach Brock Spack to shuffle the staff responsibilities, moving wide receivers / associate head coach Ghaali Muhammad-Lankford and tight ends / fullbacks coach CJ Irvin to co-offensive coordinator roles. Also, Northwestern offensive quality control coach Andy Bellumonini is joining the staff and will work with the quarterbacks, and Irvin will hand over his special teams duties to defensive associate head coach Mike Banks and defensive assistant head coach Kye Stewart.
Beathard previously served as the program's offensive coordinator during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, before stepping away for two seasons to spend more time with his family. He returned to the offensive coordinator role for the Redbirds in 2018.
Head over to The Pantagraph to read more on the unique situation.
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